


Find My Way Back To You

by hannasus



Series: Something Like Fate [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Island, Background Sara/OFC, Background Tommy/Laurel, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fake Out Make Out, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Lovers to Friends, Mugging, Romance, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-05 04:41:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4166268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannasus/pseuds/hannasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after their college one-night stand, Felicity reconnects with Oliver when she’s in Starling City for a job interview. She’s definitely not looking to hook up with him again, though. It’s totally whatever. Casual. Totally casual.</p><p>A sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3877225">Outta My System</a>, but you don't necessarily have to have read that one first.</p><p>(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This work is currently incomplete. Chapters 2-12 have been temporarily removed from the archive. Sorry for any inconvenience.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will probably end up being about twelve chapters long by the time it's done, and I plan on posting updates regularly, with a new chapter going up every Friday (barring any unforeseen disasters).

Felicity bites her lip and stares at the name in her phone, debating with herself.

What’s the worst that can happen? He says no—or he doesn’t remember her. In which case she’ll simply delete his name from her phone and move on with her life. No big loss.

And he did say to call if she was ever in Starling City. Granted, that was three years ago, after a one-night stand, and they haven’t spoken since. It's not exactly what you’d call a close relationship.

On the other hand, he is literally the only person she knows in Starling City. And if she’s maybe possibly going to be moving there, it might be nice to connect with someone in town.

She takes a deep breath and hits dial.

Oliver answers on the second ring. “ _Felicity?_ ”

Okay, so he clearly still has her number saved on his phone, which is a good sign. _But_ he said her name like a question, which means either he doesn’t remember who she is, or he can’t believe she’s actually calling him. So that’s not great.

“Oliver. Hey, um, I don’t know if you remember me or not but—”

“I remember,” he says. “MIT girl.”

“Yeah,” she says, exhaling in relief. “That’s me.”

“Wow, it’s been forever. Like, three years or something, right?”

“Something like that, yeah. I know this is probably weird, but you said if I was ever in Starling City I should call and—”

“You’re in Starling?” She can’t tell from his inflection if he’s happy or horrified. It’s definitely one or the other.

“Not yet,” she explains, trying her best to not sound like a psycho stalker, “but I’ve got a job interview there next Friday, and I don’t know anyone else in town, so I was thinking, if you’re free, maybe we could meet for coffee, and you could help me decide if it’s someplace I want to move.” Wait, does that make it sound like she’s expecting him to entice her to move there with sex? It totally sounds like she’s fishing for sex, doesn’t it? “I mean, you could answer some questions,” she adds hastily. “About the cost of living, the best places to live, that sort of thing. I could also just Google it, though. No pressure or anything.”

“Coffee sounds great,” he says, and she’s not 100 percent sure, but it sounds like he might possibly be smiling. “Where’s your interview?”

“Downtown. I should be done around four, they said.”

“How about we meet at five? There’s a place at Second and Main called the Grind & Jolt.”

“That sounds great. I’ll see you next Friday.”

After she disconnects the call, Felicity sits there grinning stupidly at her phone. She really has no idea why she’s so pleased. It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything. She’s not looking for anything more than a little friendly advice. Even if she were interested in a relationship—which she is definitely not—Oliver’s not at all her type, from what she can remember of him.

It’s totally whatever. Casual. Totally casual.

Nope, no big deal at all.

* * *

The job interview ends up running long. Which Felicity is pretty sure is a good sign. But it means she’s running ten minutes late to meet Oliver. She pushes through the door of the Grind & Jolt and scans the faces at the cafe.

 _Oh god,_ she thinks, _what if I don’t recognize him?_ She's pretty sure she remembers what he looks like, but people can change a lot in three years—she's proof enough of that.

But then she spots him—a very cute and very familiar-looking guy sitting alone at a table by the window and staring at his phone. His hair is a lot shorter and he’s dressed in a suit instead of the frat boy aesthetic he was sporting in Boston, but it’s definitely him. She thought maybe she'd exaggerated how good looking he was in her mind, but nope—he’s actually even better looking than she remembers. Which doesn’t seem like it should be possible, but there he is, basically looking like a Greek god in a suit and tie.

She winds her way over to his table, clutching the strap of her bag tight enough to turn her knuckles white. “Oliver?”

He looks up and his mouth falls open in surprise. “Felicity? Is that really you? Whoa.”

“Yeah, I guess I look a little different,” she says, shifting self-consciously. Her hair has gone from jet black to blonde since he last saw her, and she’s started wearing glasses. On top of that, she’s all dressed up in her interview power suit and a pair of four-inch heels instead of the leather jacket and boots she was wearing when they first met. Both of them are doing pretty decent impressions of grown-ups these days.

Oliver stands and greets her by brushing a light kiss on her cheek, his hands briefly clasping her arms. “I like it,” he says, smiling down at her. “It’s a good look on you.”

Felicity feels herself blush and ducks her head, hoping he won’t notice. “Sorry I’m late. They kept me longer than I expected.”

“That’s okay, I haven’t ordered yet. What can I get you?”

“Non-fat vanilla latte?”

“Coming right up.”

While Oliver gets in line for drinks, Felicity slips into the ladies’ room to freshen up. The reflection in the mirror stares back at her in despair. The rush to get over here has left her red-faced and sweaty and her lipstick is all but non-existent. She spends a few minutes with her makeup bag, making herself slightly more presentable, and then takes a few deeps breaths to steady her nerves before going back out to face her coffee date with her superhumanly hot one-night-stand from college.

Oliver’s already waiting for her with their drinks and he stands up when she approaches the table, waiting for her to sit before taking his own seat again. So he’s hot _and_ he has good manners. Who even knew men like that still existed?

“Thanks for the coffee,” she says, reaching for the cup he slides toward her. It’s still too hot to drink, so she blows on it to cool it off.

He smiles and shakes his head slightly. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”

A nervous laugh bubbles up from her throat. “In the flesh,” she quips, trying to sound nonchalant and not totally flustered like she actually is. She can feel her babble reflex trying to kick in and takes a sip of her coffee to head it off at the pass, but it’s still too hot and she ends up burning her tongue.

“You know what’s really funny?” Oliver says. “I was just thinking about you not too long ago.”

“Really?” she says, looking up in surprise.

“Yeah, I was just wondering what you were up to, how you were doing.” He smiles and leans back in his chair. “And now here you are. Weird, huh?”

“Very weird,” she agrees, lowering her eyes to the table. That smile of his is straight up unfair. It’s like a solar eclipse: mesmerizing, but dangerous to look directly at.

“So how’d your interview go?” he asks over the top of his coffee cup.

Felicity moves her hands into her lap so he can’t see how fidgety they are. “Really well, I think. They seemed to like me, and I’m pretty sure I managed to not make a total fool of myself, so fingers crossed, I guess.”

“You graduated last year, right?”

She nods and reaches for her coffee again. “I’m finishing up my master’s, which means it’s job market time—hence the interview. What about you? Did you ever go back to school?”

His smile twists into something wry. “Yeah, I finally stopped running away from my responsibilities and buckled down. I’m almost like a real adult now.” He gestures at the suit he’s wearing. “Got a job and everything.”

“Good for you—I mean, assuming you’re happy with it.” He doesn’t really seem all that happy about it, to be honest.

He shrugs. “It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be. Sometimes I still miss the old days when I could just party all the time, but mostly I’m glad I’m not that guy anymore.” It sort of sounds like he’s trying to convince himself as much as he’s trying to convince her. “So what kind of job are you interviewing for?”  
  
“IT. It’s entry level, but with a really good company. Hopefully it’ll be a stepping stone to bigger and brighter things.”

“What company?”

“Queen Consolidated.”

Oliver bursts out laughing. “You’re kidding.”

Felicity stares at him, confused. “What’s so funny?”

He shakes his head in amusement. “We never got around to exchanging last names, did we? You really don’t know.”

“Know what?” she asks, starting to feel annoyed that she’s not in on the joke. “What’s your last name have to do with it?”

“My last name is Queen. My mother is the CEO.”

Felicity’s mouth falls open. “Your mother is Moira Queen? _Are you kidding?_ You have to be kidding.”

He reaches into the breast pocket of his jacket and produces a Queen Consolidated security badge with his picture on it. The name on the badge is Oliver Queen.

“Oh my god!” she says, clapping her hand over her mouth in horror. “I can’t believe it. I swear I had no idea. I never would have—if I’d known—I mean, I totally wasn’t trying to—”

Oliver laughs again as he tucks his badge away. “It’s fine, Felicity, I know you didn’t know.”

Wow, what are the odds? That a one-night-stand from three years ago would turn out to be the heir apparent to the company she just interviewed with? It’s unreal.

“Wait,” Felicity says, remembering something from her interview prep. “If your mother is Moira Queen, that means your father …” She trails off as Oliver’s expression darkens.

His jaw clenches. “Yeah.”

She did a lot of research on QC to get ready for her interview, and one of the facts she learned was that Moira Queen only took over as CEO a few years ago, after her husband was lost at sea in a boating accident. “Oh, Oliver. I’m so sorry.”

He lowers his eyes. “Thank you.”

“It was almost three years ago, wasn’t it?” she asks, as something else occurs to her. “Wouldn’t that make it right around the time we met?”

He nods grimly. “Only two weeks after I got back from that weekend in Boston, as a matter of fact. That trip was sort of my last hurrah. After that …” He presses his lips together and shakes his head. “Well, I guess I grew up pretty fast after that.”

Instinctively, Felicity’s hand reaches across the table for his. “I can’t even imagine,” she says, even though she can imagine it all too well. She knows exactly how much tragedy can change you—how you aren’t the same person anymore when you come out the other side.

Oliver responds with a tight smile that she takes to mean he’d rather be talking about pretty much anything else right now, and she knows that feeling too—oh, how she knows it.

She lets go of his hand and picks up her coffee. “So tell me about your job,” she says with forced brightness. “What’s your role in the family business, Mr. Queen?”

He flashes her a grateful look and starts talking about his work. He’s essentially a junior executive, but he’s being groomed to take over as CEO one day, so he’s been shadowing various high-level execs, learning about different aspects of the company. At the moment he’s working under the CFO, but he did a stint with the CIO last year, so he knows a lot of the people in IT, including her hiring manager.

They talk about the company for a while, and then about Starling City, and the longer they talk the more convinced Felicity becomes that she wants this job. A _lot._ She’s got a few other prospects on the horizon, but none of them are half as attractive as Queen Consolidated.

Before she knows it, two hours have passed and Oliver’s glancing at his phone. “Oh, wow, is that the time already?” he says.

“Do you have plans?” she asks, and immediately feels like an idiot. “Of course you do, it’s Friday night. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you so long.”

“It’s fine,” he says, standing up. “I’ve still got time to make my dinner reservation if I leave now. I’m meeting my girlfriend,” he adds, almost apologetically.

“Right,” Felicity says, feeling unexpectedly thrown. Which is ridiculous and she needs to stop it right this second. It’s fine that he’s got a girlfriend. It doesn’t matter to her one bit. And it’s not at all weird that he hasn’t mentioned her until now. Not weird at all.

“When are you flying back to Boston?” Oliver asks as he walks her to the door.

“Tomorrow morning.”

They step out of the Grind & Jolt and pause just outside the door. The streets, which were crowded with people bustling home from work two hours ago, are almost deserted now. Evidently Starling City’s business district doesn’t offer much in the way of nightlife.

“Can I drop you somewhere?” Oliver asks.

Felicity shakes her head and hooks her thumb over her shoulder. “My hotel’s only two blocks away. Thanks, though.”

“Then I guess this is goodbye for now,” he says, nodding. “It was really good seeing you again, Felicity.”

“You too,” she says lightly. There’s absolutely nothing to feel weird about, she tells herself. All she did was catch up with an old acquaintance, and maybe even make a useful business connection in the process. It’s perfectly harmless and innocent, and exactly what she wanted out of this meeting. “Thank you for the coffee,” she tells him. “And for making the time to see me.”

He bends down to kiss her cheek again. It’s brief and perfunctory, something he probably does with all his female acquaintances, not just the ones he’s slept with. “You’ll call and let me know if you get the job, won’t you?”

“Sure,” she says, not at all sure if she will or not.

Oliver smiles at her one last time before striding off down the sidewalk. She watches him walk away for a few seconds, appreciating the view, before she starts for her hotel.

It’s actually better that he’s got a girlfriend, Felicity decides that night over room service fries and complimentary HBO. The absolute last thing she’s looking for right now is to get involved with anyone. She is _definitely_ not ready to open herself up to anything like that again. Ugh. No. No way.

This is much better. This way it’s clear that he’s solidly off limits and there won’t be any misunderstandings about her interest in him. Everything’s good. Everything’s great. Couldn't be better.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, Oliver has a girlfriend. And you’re going to meet that girlfriend in this chapter. But I’m not tagging for that relationship because a) I kind of want it to be a surprise and b) this story is not about that relationship. It’s just a temporary roadblock that Oliver and Felicity have to navigate their way around. So bear with me. Because it might take some time, but I promise they’ll get there eventually.

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I decided to post a bonus update today, in addition to the regularly-scheduled Friday update, because a) this next chapter is kind of short and b) it doesn’t have any Oliver in. So it seems unfair to make you wait a full week for it. I promise Friday’s update will be back to your regularly scheduled dose of Oliver/Felicity angsty UST, though.
> 
> I also wanted to send out a heartfelt THANK YOU for all the amazing, thoughtful comments I’ve received on this story so far. You guys are the absolute best, and I love each and every one of you. If you haven’t found it yet, I’ve got [a Tumblr](http://susannahmccormick.tumblr.com/) where I tend to ramble about my fics and my writing process, in between reblogging lots and lots of Olicity gifsets. And [my ask box](http://susannahmccormick.tumblr.com/ask) is always open if anyone ever wants to chat or ask questions or just say hi. I love talking to new people, so don’t be shy about dropping in and introducing yourself.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes references to canonical suicide.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	5. Chapter 5

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you guys don't like to see Oliver & Sara together, even temporarily, and I'm sorry, but I'm asking you to bear with me for one more chapter. I promise you won't have to put up with it for much longer. It may feel like they're never going to break up, but looks can be deceiving. :)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little later than I usually post. At the last second I decided I needed to combine this chapter with the next one, so basically you're getting twice as much of an update as you would have. :)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	8. Chapter 8

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	9. Chapter 9

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	10. Chapter 10

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	11. Chapter 11

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've upped the rating for this chapter to explicit. Please read responsibly. ;)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapters 2-12 of this work have been temporarily removed from the archive. I've edited them to remove the text, rather than deleting the whole work, because I will be putting it back up eventually, and I didn't want to lose the comments. If you would like an explanation, please feel free to message me on [Tumblr](http://hannasus.tumblr.com/). In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.


End file.
